Diptych of crucifixion and Madonna and Child

This diptych of the Crucifixion and Madonna and Child by Bonaventura Berlinghieri, a member of the pioneering Berlinghieri family of painters in Lucca, represents the earliest phase of Italian panel painting. The Berlinghieri workshop, active in the first half of the 13th century, was among the first in Tuscany to adapt Byzantine artistic models to the new format of portable devotional panels and altarpieces. Now in the Uffizi, this diptych pairs the two central images of Christian devotion in a format designed for private prayer.

Painted in tempera and gold on two hinged wooden panels, the diptych employs the pronounced Byzantine style of the Berlinghieri workshop with bold outlines, gold ground, and hieratic frontality. The schematic but expressive rendering of figures shows the direct influence of Byzantine icons brought to Tuscany through trade and the Crusades.